Forever
by Black-Eyed-Goth-Chick
Summary: How could this scrawny little wretch ever help him? How could she stand to be near him? Help comes is strange forms. NOT A MARYSUE!
1. Prologue REVISED

Emily checked and rechecked her trunk, making sure she still had everything. She would hate to have to send an owl back to her parents to ask them to send on anything, her father would point blankly refuse and her mother would go on about how hopeless she was and why they continued to "bail her out".

Which was total crap, she had never needed bailing out in her life, she had always stuck up for herself, she'd taken care of herself when her parents had either been at each others throats or too drunk to notice her, and she had always let someone know if she had a problem with anything, even though that usually led to her getting beaten up.

That was her problem, at her old school she had been branded a nerd as soon as she arrived, just because she had actually paid attention in class and didn't constantly gossip about the love lives of the various teachers.

Then when the teasing and practical jokes had finally taken their toll she had lashed out and given one boy a concussion and several other life long scars, she had always hated being picked on, those who did knew when to stop. They didn't want to end up like their friends. But that single act of violence had not only branded her a freak but also a psychopath.

She had disappeared into books, hiding in the library and constantly studying. She had lasted about a month doing this before the names started again.

This had sent her over the edge. She had packed up her trunk wrote a letter to her parents demanding they picked her up from Bordeaux and stormed out of Beaxbatons without another word. When she arrived back home she received a letter informing her of her expulsion from Beaxbatons Academy.

She couldn't have cared less.

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Severus tossed the final items of clothing into his trunk and sat down on his bed. He didn't need to check it over, he had never forgotten anything before and he wasn't likely to start now.

He looked around his bare room, the walls were a plain grey colour and the entire room looked more like a guest room rather than a place where he had slept in for fifteen years.

He stood up and strode over to his bookcase and ran his finger over the faded spines of the old books that he knew inside out.

Well you would if you'd spent most of your life locked in your room with nothing else to do but read.

He wasn't looking forward to going back to school; torment and eternal embarrassment were all he had to look forward to.

It wasn't that he was totally alone, he had several people that he hung around with after the lessons were over, he just didn't have any _real_ friends.

No one would stick up for him when Potter started his "lets torment the loner just because we're bored" game, no one cared that the years of bullying had taken quite a toll on his slowly diminishing sanity, no one could ever stop the fate that awaited him as soon as he arrived back to school.

But there was one girl who was going to try.

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So what do you think?


	2. Lily, The Marauders, and Sev

Emily: Hiya! i'm back next chappie is here! Disclaimer: insert disclaimer here Eva: you promised! Emily: go away! on with the story! 

The train set off dead on time and headed towards Hogwarts, Emily walked down the carriage looking for an empty compartment, but everywhere was full. She was just about to give up and just sit down in the corridor, when a pretty red-haired girl came walking down the carriage towards her.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, she had a badge on her robes with a P on it so Emily assumed she was a prefect.

"I can't find an empty carriage, I'm new and I don't know anyone." She replied.

"Oh, you're an exchange student aren't you?" asked the redhead.

Emily nodded.

"Well there's a compartment down at the end with only one person in it, he's a Slytherin and he's quite moody, but if he gives you grief just come and find me okay? My name's Lily by the way."

"I'm Emily," she smiled at the girl, finally I have a chance to make a friend, she thought.

"Pleased to meet you, I'll see you at the feast, fingers crossed your sorted into Gryffindor eh?" and she walked off to patrol the rest of the train.

Emily headed down to the end of the train and found the compartment Lily had mentioned, she slid open the door to find a tall black haired boy about her age sitting there with his nose in a book.

"What?' he snapped when he saw her.

"Oh, um, everywhere else is full." She stammered, she was quite intimidated by him, not just by his tone of voice but the way he was glaring at her as if she was trying to rob him or something.

"And how, may I ask, is that my problem?" he sneered back at her.

"Its your problem because Lily said that I could use this compartment and that if you didn't let me, to go and tell her so she could sort you out!" she snapped at him, she hated people who looked down their noses at her.

"Lily Evans? Sort me out? Yeah like that's ever going to happen! She'll probably just set her boyfriend on me like she does every other time!"

There was a long silence where Emily just stood there in the doorway going pinker by the minute until the boy asked her "are you still here?"

"Yes I am! Now can I sit here or not?"

He eyed her for a second or so, and then replied. "Whatever."

Emily sat down on the opposite bench as far away from him as she could get.

Well this a great start, she thought, I've already made an enemy and we're not even at school yet.

"I'm Emily." She said after a while, " You got a name? Or should I just call you whatever?"

"Severus." He muttered, he didn't like people who asked stupid questions, so he was hoping to get this weirdo to shut up soon.

"So where are you from?" she asked in a friendly fashion, hoping to get him to at least look at her instead of that damn book he was reading.

"England" he replied evasively.

"Yes, but what part?

"Why are you asking me this?" he said slamming down his book, making her jump, "hasn't Evans told you about me yet?"

"What's there to tell apart from how anti-social your acting?" she retorted.

"The words "friendless loner" spring to mind." He said savagely, picking up his book and opening it upside down.

She slid down the bench until she was facing Severus. "You too eh?" she asked after a minute.

"What?" he asked, lowering his book and staring at her.

"Don't worry I was just the same at Beaxbatons, I used to just shrink into books when they all went off without me." She turned away from him and looked out of the window at the scenery flashing past the train.

"Seriously?" he asked raising his eyebrows at her and putting his book away.

"Yeah, I was a right book worm." She giggled remembering all the times her "friends" had gone off to play Quidditch and she had just sat in an empty classroom and worked, that was probably caused her pale complexion.

"Well you'll soon find out sweetheart, that if you do anything other than suck up to the Marauders, the last thing that'll happen to you will be that your left alone."

"Who are the Marauders?" asked Emily, puzzled at how savage he was being when he mentioned them.

"A gang" he replied "consisting of four Gryffindors"

"And what's wrong with them?" she asked, still confused.

"What's wrong with them?! They think making life hell for people is fun! They think they have the right to persecute someone just because they're bored! They think-" he stopped midway, Emily saw that he was obviously reliving memories he didn't want to. "They think," he said through gritted teeth "That it is their meaning in live to torment me until I one day I finally go insane. _That_ is what is wrong with them."

"Dude, that's fucking evil." She blurted out before she could think.

Severus snorted, "I'm so glad someone finally agrees with me."

For the rest of the journey they got on quite well, Emily told him about Beaxbatons and how she wanted to become a writer when she left school, and Severus told her more about Hogwarts and Hogsmead. When the food trolley came past Severus insisted on paying for Emily's food and then carried on talking about all the great shops that were in Hogsmead, Emily couldn't wait until the first weekend when she could see it for herself.

"Hey if you get sorted into Slytherin you could come with me and the rest of us," offered Severus.

"That would be great!" she replied, "But I might be sorted into another house."

Severus shrugged, "Shit happens Em, we'll just have to wait and see."

Emily blushed slightly; did he just call her "Em"?

The train pulled into Hogsmead station and Emily climbed off the train after Severus, he pointed to a group of terrified looking first years who were standing by the side of the train.

"You'll have to go with them, across the lake, I'll see you at the feast, fingers crossed your sorted into Slytherin eh?" and he ran off into the rain.

Oh dear, she thought, this could be a problem.


	3. Being Sorted

Authors note: Emily: Hey all! I finally updated! Hurray for me! I'm so sorry it took me so long, but things have been mega hectic recently. Eva: yeah right, more like you just couldn't be assed to update…. Emily: shut up, anyway thank you for all the nice comments, here's the replies:

Leelo77- Thanks so much! I never have much confidence in my stories, so thank you for being so nice!

SmileVampy- I updated! Isn't that great! Anyway, thank you for your comment, I'm a big fan of you're fanfiction!

TheWaterSprite- You're very enthusiastic, are sure it's my story you like so much? Thanks for your comments!

Lalorien Epona- so sorry to here you had a bad experience with an Emily, we aren't all bad!

Joanna- Yep, but it might not work out in the end….

Maire1320- This enough for you to understand? I'm sorry I'm so vague with my first chapters…

Disclaimer: I own nothing; all I own is a half empty pot of chocolate spread…

Emily walked over to join the first years who were clumped together in a large group trying to stay out of the way of the other students. She smiled a few of them but none of them returned the smile. A voice sounded out behind them, "Alright first years, follow me." A pretty Asian woman indicated a small fleet of boats down by the lake; Emily assumed this woman was one of the teachers.

She clambered into a boat with a small mousy-haired girl and boys who were discussing which houses they wanted to be sorted into.

"I'm definitely going to be sorted into Gryffindor," one of them said, "I'm not going anywhere near any of those stupid fascist Slytherins, what about you?

Emily was shocked, one because she was surprised a first year knew what a fascist actually was and two that they could be so bloody dismissive. Severus wasn't a fascist…at least she didn't think so…

"Well I want to be a Ravenclaw, they're the smartest." Said the boys' companion.

"Maybe you should just wait for them to decide," butted in the mousy-haired girl, "you don't have a choice, just go with wherever they put you.' This lead into a particularly nasty chain of insults throw by the two boys, Emily felt a stab of pity towards the small girl. She made mental not to get back at those evil little prats who were mean to her later, she couldn't stand people like that…

Suddenly the castle came into view and the two boys fell silent, they were in awe of the size and magnificence of it, Emily was impressed as well, it was nothing like Beaxbatons…

When the boats moored at the small harbour on the other side of the lake the Asian woman lead them up a flight of steps that ended at the castle doors, she took them through and they grouped around the entrance to the Great Hall, this was where the woman introduced herself, "Welcome first years to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am Professor Dawson, you're Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. If you would please follow me into the great hall where you will be sorted into the houses where you shall remain for the rest of you're time here at Hogwarts." She turned and threw open the doors and lead them through.

They walked past the house table where the other students where already seated, Emily spotted Lily sitting at the Gryffindor table next to a boy with messy black hair and strange glint in his eyes that Emily immediately didn't like. Lily grinned and waved at her, Emily returned the smile but turned to the other side of the room towards the Slytherin table, she found Severus sitting between a tall seventh year boy with long platinum blond hair and girl with a sneer firmly plastered across her face, several piercings decorated her eyebrows, nose and lip. Emily looked away when she met eyes with this freaky looking person, she didn't want to be seen staring.

Professor Dawson began to read from a list of names in her hand, one by one the first years walked up onto a raise platform and sat on a stool where Professor Dawson would place a tatty wizards hat on their head, which would shout of the houses they belonged to.

Strangely, Emily's name was called last of all, which was frankly rather pointless as he last name was Adelane…

Professor Dawson folded up the list of names and addressed the entire hall, "We are very pleased to welcome an exchange student from Beaxbatons Academy, her name is Emily Adelane, and should hope you will all make her feel at home here."

'Thanks a lot,' Emily thought, 'there's nothing like extreme embarrassment to start off the school year…'

She stepped up onto the platform and sat down on the stool and jumped when the hat was placed on her head and it began to talk to her…

"Sooo, I see there are divided loyalties here eh? A possible friend in Gryffindor _and_ Slytherin, I see, this is quite a conundrum…"

'I know!' she thought, 'and I don't think either of them would be very understanding if I went to either house…'

"Well its customary in these situations to find some common ground, where you not only belong, but also are free to mix with both sides…"

'Yes!' she thought gleefully, 'But where?'

"RAVENCLAW!"

She stepped down from the platform to the Ravenclaw table who were clapping and cheering for her, she looked over at Lily, she was cheering and clapping for her as well, Emily smiled at her and sat down. But when she glanced over to the Slytherin table-none of which were clapping- she saw that Severus was scowling and exchanging words with the freaky girl sitting next to him.

'Damn' she thought, 'this might take a while…'


	4. Lunesia Lovegood

Authors note: Emily: woot! I'm on a roll baby, two updates in two days! Eva: Get on with the disclaimer moron! Emily: go away, here are the answers to my reviews on the last chapter:

Leelo77: You are far too nice to me; I wish my friends at school liked my stories as much as you! Thanks for the comment!

BookWormqwerty1: Why thank you!

AddictiontotheBlade: I'm really flattered by that, and I guess she is Mary-Sue in a way, but she's not like the normal Mary-Sue's because she's flawed just like everyone else, I despise when people make their original characters absolutely perfect, it just destroys the whole point of writing fanfiction in the first place.

Emily: anyway, enough of my ranting, on with the story!

Eva: Disclaimer first!

Emily: go to hell Eva! Sighs I own nothing here that you recognize, don't sue me!

Emily sat there for the rest of the feast hardly eating anything, she had thought that being in Ravenclaw would have made her able to be friends with both Lily and Severus, but now she thinking that maybe those ignorant prats on the boat were partly right, maybe the Slytherins only mixed with those that were the same as them…

She was beginning to get a head ache, she didn't understand why there was so much conflict between the two houses, at Beaxbatons there had been no houses, so they were all equal, this was all so new to her…

When the feast ended she saw a tall golden blond girl leading away the first years, she jumped out of her seat and began to follow them. She made her way through the group of Ravenclaw first years until she was walking beside the blond girl. She spotted a Prefect badge on the front of her robes and guessed that it was the job of the prefects to show the first years to their houses.

As they made their way up the moving staircases she noticed that several people sniggered behind their hands and whispered to their friends when she and the blond girl walked past.

She took a proper look at her prefect companion; she was very pretty, in a strange, elven sort of way. Her long hair reached her waist and was braided with blue and purple ribbon, she wore a strange set of earrings that looked a lot like miniature dream-catchers with pink feathers dangling from the bottom.

They reached a portrait of beautiful galloping unicorn on their left side and the girl stopped and turned to the first years, "This is the entrance to the Ravenclaw tower, the password for the time being is Cordial, the passwords change every three weeks so be sure to ask me or Jason Mathews, your male Ravenclaw prefect if you are unsure of the current password." She had a smooth, dreamy voice and Emily stared in awe of her, was this the girl that the others had been laughing at? Surely not…then maybe, it had been her that they had been laughing at…

The first years filed past her and into the common room, Emily mad to follow them but the blond girl held out her arm to stop her. "Hi," she said with a friendly smile, "I'm Lunesia Lovegood, you'll be in my year, if you want someone to show you around I could help you."

Emily stuttered, "um, well, thanks sure!" she smiled at Lunesia.

"Great, shall is how you the dorm? You can choose which bed you want." she whirled around and led Emily up to the dorm they would be sharing.

The next morning she walked down to breakfast with Lunesia, casually chatting about what optional subjects she had chosen. Lunesia had been doing Divination and Ancient Runes the past year and was pleasantly surprised when she found out that Emily had chosen the same.

"I could help you if you get stuck with Ancient Runes, it's a bit tricky when you first start by you get the hang of it eventually-"

"Hey! Loony!" shouted a male voice behind them, "Make sure you don't sacrifice the new girl to Satan!"

"Or worse, turn her into another freak just like you!" shouted another.

Emily turned to see the boy she had seen sitting next to Lily at the feast and another with long black hair tied back in a ponytail.

Lunesia however kept on walking, acting as if she hadn't heard a thing. Emily scowled at the bay and hurried to catch up with Lunesia.

"Who the hell are those gits?" she asked.

"James Potter and Sirius Black, they call themselves The Marauders." Lunesia replied smoothly.

'Ah,' thought Emily, 'so these are the guys Severus was telling me about, I must say, he was right…"

They entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Ravenclaw table, Professor Dawson –who she had discovered was the Ravenclaw house master- handed out their timetables.

Emily scanned hers and then Lunesia's, "Hah! We're absolutely identical!" she said happily.

"Yes, we've got Potions with the Slytherins first thing with Professor Slughorn, we better hurry."

They quickly finished their food and Lunesia showed her the way down to the dungeons.

They lined up on one side of the corridor with the other Ravenclaws, while the Slytherins lined up the opposite side.

"I don't particularly like Professor Slughorn," Lunesia said quietly, "he's such a bias."

"Bias?" asked Emily.

"Yeah, he only pays attention to those who are best in the class, and he ignores the rest of us like we're not even there!"

Emily was unable to reply because at that moment Professor Slughorn emerged from the classroom and ushered them inside.

"Right, welcome back everyone, if you would all kindly find your partners and sit down!" said Professor Slughorn.

Lunesia went off to join a similar looking Slytherin boy at the front of the class, and as luck would have it, Severus was left standing alone at the back, Emily went to join him.

Slughorn tapped the blackboard and instructions appeared on it, they all began opening their books and starting to prepare the ingredients in their pairs. Severus on the other hand was making a show of ignoring the fact that she was even there.

"Can I help?" she asked, opening her new potions book at the right page. She leaned over to see that the pages of Severus's book were covered in a large amount of scribbled notes, the original instructions for the potion completely illegible. She also saw that Severus was doing something quite different to what it said in her book…

"Are you sure that's right?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as he added three spoons of powdered beetles instead of just one.

"I am quite sure thank you very much," he said coldly, stirring his cauldron twice clockwise then thrice anti-clockwise.

She frowned and stared at him intently as he went about making the potion, not once asking her for help.

"Are you pissed that I wasn't sorted into Slytherin?" she asked suddenly.

"I'm not 'Pissed' about anything," he said, turning the page of his book.

"Then why are you ignoring me then?"

"I'm not, pass me that silver knife." Se passed him the knife and he began slicing up dragon liver.

She decided to change the subject, this wasn't going anywhere fast. "Who's that guy sitting at the front?" she asked, pointing to the boy Lunsia was working with.

"Luca Lovegood." He said without looking up.

"Luca Lovegood? Is that Lunsia's brother?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he's the saner of the two." He finished slicing the dragon liver and added it to the cauldron, wiping he forehead with his sleeve in the process; the heat from the cauldron was making him sweat.

Emily frowned, "I like Lunesia, she's funny, and different."

"It's a free country, you can like whoever you want, I'm not stopping you." He laid down the knife and closed his book. The potion was now indigo.

Professor Slughorn came over and inspected their cauldron, "That's great work you two! Ten pints to Slytherin and Ravenclaw!"

Severus smirked and began to clear away the equipment he had been using, he handed her a pair of brass scales, "could you put those back in the cupboard?"

"Sure," she walked over and put them back where they belonged, on her way back to her seat she saw Slughorn shaking his head at Luca and Lunesia's work, they had failed to manage anything more than a thick, bright pink mess.

She sat back down and Severus leaned over to talk to her, "Hey, I'm sorry, I was a jerk ok?"

"You got that right," she said crossing her arms, but smiling at him still.

"You wanna come into town with me this weekend? We can get ice-cream if you want…"

Emily saw that he was blushing slightly, she grinned, "Sure, can Lunesia come too?"

Severus frowned slightly, but it passed as quickly as it had formed, "Ok, sure."

"Cool, what time?"

"10:00?"

"We'll be there."

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Next chapter, Emily confronts the Marauders and Lily's a bit of a bitch….


	5. Bad Times and Ice Cream

Authors note: Emily: Hey guys! Eva: Yo Emily: not you again… Eva: Sings The phaaaaaaantom of the opera is heeeeeeere, inside your miiiiiiind! Emily: riiiiight….Answers to reviewers!

Ashley J Potter: Thanks for your enthusiasm! And I would love to read your fanfiction!

Emily dragged the comb through her unruly brown hair and looked at herself in the mirror. Pale blue eyes, long brown hair, spots. Eugh. She pulled out her tube of concealer and tried to cover up the large areas of pimples that popped up around her forehead and cheeks. The end result was that she now looked like an orange. Bright orange. She must have packed the wrong tone…she wiped it all of and pulled out her eyeliner pencil, she could at least try to draw attention away from her chronic acne…

She had chosen to wear her purple sweatshirt and blue jeans; she pulled her hair back and wrapped it up in a red bandana. She looked alright. Not great. But alright.

She jumped the last few steps into the common room and saw Lunesia sitting by the fire reading.

"You ready?" she asked her. Lunesia nodded and put her book into her shoulder bag. Her long black skirt swayed as they made their way down to the Entrance hall, and her golden hair shone in the sunlight. Emily felt rather jealous of Lunesia, she was so pretty compared Emily, she couldn't believe no one else noticed it.

Severus was leaning against the castle wall when they walked out onto the grounds, he smiled at Emily and nodded to Lunesia who gave him a weak smile back.

Lunesia pulled out her Ravenclaw scarf and wrapped it around her neck, even though it wasn't even cold, Emily decided not to question her.

On the way down the path leading to Hogsmead they heard shouting and laughter behind them. Lily Evans sprinted passed them, she shouted a greeting to Emily then carried on running, closely followed by James Potter. He ran passed and shoved Severus to one side, "Out of my way Snivellus!" he shouted.

Severus stumbled into Lunesia and knocked her over, "Asshole!" he shouted after Potter, he reached out to help Lunesia to her feet. "Sorry," he muttered.

"No problem," she replied, brushing dirt off of her skirt.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, when they reached Hogsmead Severus showed them where the Ice-cream stand was, they chose what they wanted and he insisted on paying. Emily was glad of that, she was absolutely skint…

They sat on a low wall on the far side of Hogsmead looking over to the Shrieking Shack.

"I wonder who lives there," Emily wondered aloud.

Lunesia snorted, "No one lives there silly, its haunted by evil spirits!" she said that as if it was the most obvious thing ever. Emily raised her eyebrows and looked back at the shack.

"It doesn't look very haunted."

"That's because they only come out at night," Lunsesia stated matter-of-a-factly.

Emily realised that Severus had suddenly gone very quiet, he was glaring in the direction of the shack and his ice cream was dripping all over his hands without him noticing…

"What's up?" she asked, pulling a tissue out of her pocket and offering it to him.

His head snapped up as if he hadn't noticed she was talking, "What?" he saw the tissue and realised his ice-cream was going everywhere, "oh crap…" he took it and wiped his hands, throwing the rest of his melted ice-cream into the bin next to him. "Thanks."

"Well? What's wrong?" Emily persisted.

"Nothing, just…I've had bad experiences with that place…"

"Well, well," came a sneering voice from behind them, "isn't this a pretty site boys?"

Emily turned to see James Potter, Sirius Black and two other boys she didn't recognise, approaching them, all wearing identical evil grins…

"Son of a…" Severus hissed under his breath.

"I'm quite shocked Sniverllus," Potter continued, "attempting to take advantage of one so young and venerable, tut tut tut." He smiled nastily, "Hey New Girl, have you any idea what you are sitting next to?"

"Yes," she replied coldly, "I'm sitting next to a friend, now could you kindly clear off, your big head is blocking the sunlight."

Lunesia's eyes widened and she leaned over and hissed to Emily, "Emily! Do you have any idea what those guys are capable of? You'll get us all killed…"

Potter scowled and glared at Lunesia, "You should listen to your freakazoid of a friend and learn to respect your betters New Girl, or I can make your life very hard for you around here…"

"James! Stop it's not her fault!" Lily came running out of a shop nearby and came to stand by James, panting and trying to regain her composure. A thought suddenly struck her…James Potter was Lily Evans's boyfriend…that's why Severus doesn't like her…

"James, she's knew, she doesn't know anything yet," Emily's jaw dropped and she raised her eyebrows, she was about to object to this blatant insult but was unable to as Lily cut in again.

"She's alright really James, she's just fallen in with the wrong crowd, don't worry she can hang out with me and Katie now,"

"But I don't want to-" Emily tried to object to this too, she wanted to stay with Lunesia and Severus, she liked Lily well enough, but she didn't understand why liking them was so wrong…but Lily grabbed her arm and pulled her away from her friends and over to the boys.

"Come one, lets go Emily," she lowered her voice and whispered, "I'm sorry I left you with those two, I knew I should have looked after you properly…"

Looked after?…she wasn't a bloody child, and she didn't like the way Lily was just dragging her away from the others like they had some sort of disease she may catch.

"Look, Lily I want to stay with-"

"Evans just leave her alone! If she wants to stay with us she can stay with us-" Severus had jumped down from the wall and had advanced on them both scowling, but he was unable to finish as Potter leapt foreword and punched him hard in the stomach.

"You bloody well stay away from my girlfriend you bastard!" he yelled, his friends joining in, kicking him to the ground.

Emily covered her eyes when she heard a crack as Severus's nose broke, she cried out to Lily to make them stop, but she either didn't hear her or just didn't care as she stood their and watched with absolutely no emotion showing on her face.

When they finally stopped and Emily took her hands away from her eyes, there were tears running down her face and Severus was lying crumpled, bleeding on the floor, his face screwed up in pain.

Lily grabbed her arm again and pulled her down the road, following Potter and his gang as they hurried back up to the school.

She looked back as she was quickly dragged away and saw that Lunesia was now crouched down beside Severus wrapping her Ravenclaw scarf around his neck to form a sling for his broken arm, and handing him a wad of tissues to stem the flow of blood pouring from his nose and lip.

They turned a corner and they were blocked from sight, only then did Emily manage to wrench her hand out of Lily's grasp.

"Lily! What the hell do think your doing!" she shouted, causing passers by to stop and stare at them. Lily obviously noticed this as she turned bright red and pulled her into a nearby alley.

"What the hell am I doing? What are you doing Emily! I just saved you from the most horrible fate that can befall you at this school and ask what am I doing!"

"And what, exactly would this _terrible_ fate be?" she was so shaken, she had just seen one of the few friends she had ever had beaten up, and now Lily was saying she had been doing her a favour? Her mind was so messed up, were Severus and Lunesia supposed to be the bad guys here? But if so, what did that make Potter for beating Severus up…

"Being unpopular!" Lily cried as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Emily suddenly had visions of Lily wearing an American cheerleaders outfit saying, "Like, duh!" as if she were a jock from one of those bad muggle movies her old friends liked to watch.

Emily stood there, her eyes were now dry, no emotion showed on her face and the light behind her eyes that she had had when she was with Sev and Lune, was no totally gone.

"Fine then Lily, if being popular means I cant be happy then I want to be unpopular, I am not going to stand and watch your boyfriend kick the shit out my friend while you just cheer them on!" her voiced cracked as she got more and more upset, "I just cant believe you did that Lily!" she turned and ran out of the alley and into the sunlight, ignoring Lily's calls and hurrying back to where she had left Sev and Lune.

But when she got there they were gone, Lunesia's melted ice cream cone was the only indication that they had even been there.

"Oh no…" she dropped to her knees as the knowledge hit her like a oil truck, she had blown it, allowing herself to be pulled away by Lily had instantly wrecked any chance she had of ever being friends with either Sev or Lune, now she was left alone…no friends, no where to go, no chance…

And the world just keeps turning…


	6. She's A Rebel EDITED

Emily: Heya! Sorry if my last chapter confused ya a bit, but I haven't been getting too much sleep recently and I have no beta right now so I have no one to check if I make sense or not…heh… Eva: Yeah, more like you've been clubbing with Laurie a little too much… Emily: " heh….

Eva: Answers to reviewers!

Ashley J Potter: Got you're really getting into this aren't you? Lol, well anyway, I'm gonna say D to your question, I'm never one to stick to one series of events!

The Dark Empress of Eternity: Yes, that is just another one of my "Theories" Lily was a bitch! She and James deserve each other….

UPDATE: Thank you so much to The Dark Empress Of Eternity for pointing out to me that I updated this fic with a chapter from another fanfic by accident. Thank youooo!

Emily trudged back to the castle, her eyes red and sore from crying. She shivered despite the sunshine, and her head throbbed. She considered going up to the hospital wing but then she remembered that Severus would probably be there…in the end she decided to go to the common room, she just couldn't stand having face him after what happened…

She stood outside the entrance to the common room and debated whether to even bother, why not just leave right now?…it wasn't like anyone would miss her-

"I don't see why you're still here," came a voice behind her, "Shouldn't you be off with your new friends having fun?" she turned to see Lunesia leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, raising her eyebrows at her.

"Lunesia! Let me explain-" she began.

"No, lets not." She said sharply, Emily fell silent at the sudden viciousness in Lunesia's voice, "You know Emily, I've been here a long time. I've seen newbie's come and go, they stick around for a while, but then they realise that they _can't climb the social ladder_ with someone like me. So they ditch me and join Evans or Potter. You were the first one I actually started to believe was different-"

"But Lunesia-"

"Don't interrupt me!" she snarled, "I can't believe you did that Emily! He was your friend! And you left me alone to help him after they…" she fell quiet at the end, a pained expression crossing her face, but she frowned and continued "You abandoned us Emily, I hope you enjoy your popularity, I hope it was all worth it!" she spat as she walked past her and entered the common room.

Fresh tears began to well in her eyes, why was this all happening to here? Couldn't she just have something go right for her for once in her life?…

She dashed away the tears and narrowed her eyes in determination, if Lunesia wouldn't even listen; she had to make Severus believe her.

Running along the corridor she passed a seemingly empty classroom, until she went straight passed it did she see that it was already occupied by Lily and a group of other girls-all Gryffindors-that she didn't recognise.

"Oh come on Lily! Its not like she was anything special to begin with!"

"Yeah! And anyway, don't worry, she'll come around, they always do-"

"Yeah, like hell they do," Emily snarled and grabbed the door handle slammed it shut, not wanting to here anymore of their bitchy crap. She carried on down the corridor until she reached the hospital wing, she knocked twice before entering.

Severus was sitting on the edge of a bed having his arm examined by the nurse.

"Hang on a second honey, I'll be there in a minute. Now, Severus we should be able to cure that arm pretty easily if you just take this-" she handed him a small vial of blue potion, "And stay away from mister Potter for the next few days-"

"Yeah, like I go looking for him whenever this happens." He snapped sarcastically.

The nurse stayed silent and turned around to greet Emily, "Hello dear! I'm Sarah-Beth Flatts, how can I help?" she looked Emily up and down, "You don't look ill." She smiled pleasantly.

"Um, no, actually I came to see Severus…" she muttered.

"Well you've seen me now haven't you? Goodbye." He snarled. Sarah-Beth obviously decided not to intervene as she quietly slipped out of the sickbay and into her office.

"Sev, please listen to me, I've already seen Lunesia and she's already given me the abandonment speech-"

"Too right, if she hadn't I'dve set her hair on fire." He smirked slightly.

Emily raised an eyebrow, "Right…I'm gonna ignore that blatant psychotic remark…Please Severus, Lily dragged me away, I couldn't get away until you'd already gone, I went back and you weren't there. I don't want to ditch you two! You're the only real friends I've ever had…"

"So you're saying that you allowed Evans you pull you away because you really care about us? Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense Adelaine…" he downed the potion, wincing at the bitter taste.

"I didn't let her pull me away! I was worried about you! I was scared that if I didn't go with them they'd hurt you again!" she was on the verge of crying once again.

"Well newsflash drama queen! They're not going to leave me alone whether you go with them or not, so why did you go?"

"Because I didn't know!" she turned and ran from the sick bay and out into the corridor, tears streaming down her face. She ran down four flights of stairs with no idea where she was going until she finally collapsed in a heap, her back against the wall.

She sat there and cried for gods knows how long, until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Emily…Um, I'm sorry." She looked up at Severus, who was frowning, but still couldn't hide the concern in his eyes.

"I hate Lily Evans…" was all she said, Severus smirked and helped her to her feet.

"C'mon, I'll walk you back your common room."

"Hey… how do you know where our common room is?' she asked suddenly, he smirked and shrugged his shoulders, leading her up the staircase,

"Everyone knows," he was all he said.

'Damn,' she thought, 'They have GOT to change the portrait or something…'

The next few months passed in blur of immense amounts of homework and occasional run-ins with the Marauders.

After finally managing to convince Lunesia that she had no intention of join The Bitch Squadron- a name the three of them had fondly given to Evans and her friends- Emily continued to work with Severus in potions and study in the common room with Lunesia in the evenings.

They had planned for the three of them to meet up and study together in the library each evening, but that was quickly abandoned after a particularly nasty attack by the Marauders where Lunesia ended up going to the hospital wing with a large collection of gashes across her face and arms.

Thankfully all four Marauders were going home for the Christmas holidays, Severus was staying the entire time and Lunesia planned to come back on Boxing Day.

In the meantime Emily was starting to see a lot more of the strange punk-type girl with the multiple piercings who she had seen sitting next to Severus at the start of year feast.

Mostly she seemed to hang around the Dungeon Gang –another name courtesy of Lunesia- and on other times Emily had seen her chatting lazily with Severus between classes.

On Christmas Eve Severus walked with her down to the three broomsticks for a drink. She had never been somewhere with such a warm atmosphere, she instantly began to feel better about her situation…sure she was slightly behind with Transfiguration homework, and she was just counting the days until the Marauders next attack, but looking at the other students laughing and discussing what they hoped to get for Christmas made her finally start to feel at home for the first time in her life.

Severus got them a table and sat opposite her, rolling a galleon across his knuckle absentmindedly.

"So, what do ya want me to get ya for Christmas?" Emily asked suddenly, making Sev drop his galleon onto the floor.

"Presents?" he asked with his eyebrows raised, as if he couldn't believe she was asking, "For me?"

"Yeah! 'Course, you're my mate aren't you? I need to get Lunesia something too…any ideas?"

He raised his eyebrows even higher, "It's a bit late isn't it? You do realise it's Christmas Eve?"

Emily grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, it's just like me to leave everything to the last minute!"

He leaned down to pick his galleon up off of the floor, "Well, I have no idea, so just get whatever you can afford, I don't care…"

She sensed once again that he was hiding something from her, 'As much as she could afford?' what was he trying to say to her?…

"Oh, come on! I have to have some idea what to get you!"

"Naw, Sev don' like getting' presents, makes 'im feel guilty that 'e can' give anythin' back." Came a voice behind her, she spun her head round to see the punky girl approaching them with a bottle of firewhisky and a large black shoulder bag that seemed to be stuffed to breaking point with what looked like shreds of variously coloured material.

_She's a rebel _

_She's a saint_

_She's salt of the earth_

_And she's dangerous_

_She's a rebel_

_Vigilante _

_Missing link on the brink_

_Of destruction_

_From Chicago to Toronto _

_She's the one that they_

_Call old whatsername_

_She's the symbol_

_Of resistance_

_And she's holding on my_

_Heart like a hand grenade_

"Hey Mara," greeted Severus reluctantly.

"Yo," she replied, "can ah sit 'ere?" she asked Emily, pointing to the chair next to her. But before she was able to answer she had already sat down and was playing with her large collection of spiked cuffs on her wrists.

"So, you the chick Sev's bin talkin' so much about eh?" she spoke with a distinct Londoner accent, now that Emily was able to look at her more closely, it seemed that there was far more to her than her many piercings.

Up close she seemed exceedingly pale and almost malnourished, her black leather jacket was battered and the leather faded in several places, her kohl rimmed eyes seemed to be shrunken into her head, the pale grey colour only adding to her seemingly dead looking appearance.

This was only heightened by her waist length straggly black hair and the large amounts of black make-up she wore.

Altogether her entire manor seemed to scream, "Look at me! I don't give a shit what you all think!" which under normal circumstances would have been fine in Emily's books, but there was still something about her that she didn't completely trust…

"Um, I dunno," she replied, "Am I?" she asked Severus, who promptly stood up and asked if anyone wanted some drinks.

"Yah, same again Sev," drawled Mara, after draining the last few drops from her last one.

After Severus had left to order at the bar, Mara turned to Emily, fixing her with a contemplative gaze.

"I'm Mara Angelo," she said, holding out one of her blacked nailed hands to her.

Emily shook it nervously, "Emily Adelaine, um…so are you in the same year as Severus?"

"Naw, year above," she replied nonchalantly, rolling her empty firewhisky bottle back and forth across the table.

"So…er, how did you two meet?" she asked unsure of anything else to say, she might as well get to know a little bit more about this strange person.

Mara's face darkened even more at the question, she narrowed her eyes, "We met through a friend," she growled.

Emily was taken aback by this unexpected change, suddenly the nonchalant, uncaring person sitting next to her had morphed into this uptight, snappy individual…and Emily had no idea why…she had only asked…

Severus suddenly appeared in front of them, he put down the drinks and glanced between the two of them, "What's up?" he asked.

"On second thoughts Sev, ah think I'll see ya back at the castle, ah've still got some things ta do." She stood up and put her hand on his shoulder briefly before walking out of the bar without another word.

Severus looked confused, "What happened?" he asked.

"Beats me Sev…" she stared at the place where Mara had been sitting, why had she gotten so jumpy when she had asked about how they had met…had they been involved once?…

'No,' said the voice in the back of her head, 'Even Severus couldn't be THAT desperate…' but she mentally kicked herself after that…she had insulted her best friend and one of his friends both at the same time…it was scary how like Lily Evans the voice in her mind sounded…

But it was still suspicious how Mara had reacted, she made a mental note to find out why…what did she have to hide exactly?…

Emily: ahhh…another bad chapter in my opinion…no sleep…gahhh…

Next chapter: all is revealed about Mara Angelo, and who exactly is Kayden?……oooooooo suspense…


	7. Kayden

Emily: oookay, new chapter (at last) and still not getting enough sleep…so once again I must ask you to point out any mistakes my grammar checker missed.

Enjoy the story.

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It was a mad dash that evening for Emily to find last minute presents for her friends, Severus had left to go back to the castle an hour ago and she was starting to wish he had actually told her what he wanted…

I mean…what do you get for someone who you still barely know? And was it too arrogant for her to count him as a friend? There was still plenty of time for her to mess it all up like she always did…

Finding a present for Lunesia had been a lot easier, she had found a small pagan magic shop at the edge of town, she settled on a new pair of earrings and pack of variously coloured candles that were said to bring good luck when you burned them.

The next day dawned cold and crisp. The snow frosting up the window by her bed, she blearily opened her eyes and was met by small assortment of gifts and the end of her bed.

As she was the only one in her dorm over the holidays, she was free to make as much mess and noise as she wanted.

She ripped open the paper on the largest and was met by a brand new leather-bound volume of Advanced Potion Making; the card informed her that it was from Severus.

Her stomach plummeted, she hadn't managed to find anything for Severus in Hogsmead, she had been sure that he would understand, she hadn't expected him to actually get her something…

She reluctantly made her way through the rest of the presents. A new pair of black jeans and a blue turtleneck from her parents, a box of chocolate frogs from Lily Evans-which she promptly threw in the bin-, a collage of muggle photo's from her old school (which she was ultimately shocked by) and to her delight, a beaded necklace with a purple feather dangling from the middle from Lunesia.

She went down to breakfast, proudly wearing her new cloths and jewellery.

The house tables had been replaced by one single table for those staying over the holidays, and Emily was -for the first time- able to sit next to Severus, despite the looks from his fellow Slytherins.

"Did you like the book?" he asked as she sat down.

"Yeah, its great, but I think it's a little to complicated for me. The most advanced potion I'm able to brew is a weak antidote to snake-bite, I've never been very talented with potions…"

There were sniggers from the Slytherins sitting nearby; Emily glared at them, causing them to snigger even more.

"Pray tell," she asked with a forced smile, "What is so funny?"

One of them sneered, "Well, its not surprising really, Mudbloods rarely posses any kind of _real_ magical talent…"

" 'Cept for that Kayden kid, but we all know what happened to 'im…" muttered another.

"Shut the fuck up Avery! You don't even know what you're fucking talking about!" shouted Severus suddenly. He stood up and stormed out of the hall, causing the fragile looking first years to whimper as he strode past.

Emily's brow furrowed in confusion, "What was that about? Who's Kayden?" she was concerned, what on earth would make Severus react like that?

"Get lost, why should we tell _you_? I hope Severus dumps your ass back in the pit you crawled out of, _Mudblood_," sneered Avery, a nasty smile plastered across his harsh features.

Emily had had quite enough of this group of bigoted bastards, she stood up and pushed her plate away. She began to walk the way Severus had gone, but she glanced back over her shoulder and called back to Avery, "Yeah? Well I hope you get hit by a fucking bus _Avery_."

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After a full hour of searching for him, she eventually gave up; she decided that he had probably gone to the Slytherin common room. She sat miserably out side the entrance to the dungeons, hoping to catch him on his way to lunch.

The door opened suddenly, her head snapped up, hoping to see Severus, but her face fell as she saw that it was none other than Mara Angelo.

"Hey newbie, howzit?" asked Mara offhandedly.

"Hello Mara, I'm fine," she greeted her reluctantly, "Have you seen Severus around?" she asked hopefully.

"Matta of fact I 'av," she replied, " 'e passed me as I came out of the 'all, he went down ta 'ogsmead,"

"Great! Thanks," she turned and began to walk towards the entrance hall when Mara called after her.

"Hey! Wait a sec, I'll come with ya, I need ta tell 'im something too," she quicken her pace until she was walking in step with Emily, "We can look for 'im together."

As much as Emily was uncomfortable with being in Mara's quiet yet terrifying company, she dared not object, she didn't like the idea of pissing off a girl who most likely kept a knife and possibly other weapons under her black coat…

They trudged wearily through the snow, neither of them speaking until they had arrived outside the Three Broomsticks, where Mara held out her arm to stop her.

"While we're 'ere, I'll buy ya a drink, just ta warm us up." She grabbed a hold of Emily's jumper and all but dragged her through the doors and into a booth right at the back.

"Wait 'ere," she ordered and stomped off in the direction of the bar. While she was gone Emily took the time to rub the sore spots on her arms where Mara had grabbed her, either she didn't know her own strength or she just enjoyed hurting people…

Mara eventually returned with a butter beer and a bottle of firewhiskey, which she promptly popped the cap off with her bare hands and began swigging from with much vigour.

"Right, now newbie, there's something I need ta talk to ya's about-"

Emily blinked, suddenly all the pieces fell into place in her mind, "Severus didn't go into Hogsmead did he?" she asked glaring at Mara with intense irritation, all she had wanted was to talk to Severus. Now she had no idea what was going to happen…

Mara smirked and toyed with the firewhiskey bottle, "Naw, 'e didn't, I wanted to tell ya somethin', and ah figured that was tha only way you'd speak ta me…"

"So you dragged me into here to tell me something you probably could have told me any time, when I could be trying to work out why Sev is acting so strangely-"

"Now wait a bleedin' minute newbie! 'e wasn't gonna talk to ya's anyway! 'e ran up to 'is dorm and refused to come out." Emily scowled and turned away, Mara was beginning to piss her off considerably and she was tempted to just storm back to the castle and ignore her the rest of the time.

"Look, just please 'ear me out 'kay? Its important…" Emily turned back to see there was now a strange change in Mara's expression, she was no longer glaring and she seemed genuinely sad, she could even push it far enough to say she even looked vulnerable…

"Fine," she crossed her arms and looked at Mara expectantly, "What is it?"

A miniscule smile graced Mara's face, "You remember ah was really sharp with ya when ya asked 'bout how me an' Sev met?" Emily nodded, "Well ah'm gonna tell ya's how we met, through who we met tah be precise, ya might want to make yaself comfortable," she stretched her arms out in front of her, "this may take a while…"

Emily raised her eyebrows; this didn't seem to be that important…She had all but forgotten about Mara being snappy with her when they first met, she hadn't considered it of any significance…

"But jus remember this eh Newbie, ah'm only telling ya's this coz ah think you can be trusted, Sev aint supposed ta know ah told ya's 'kay? 'e don' like ta talk about it," Emily nodded once again, Mara smiled, "Good,"

She took a deep breath and began to speak, the first thing that hit Emily was the fact that Mara had now totally lost her Londoners accent; she actually sounded a lot like Emily. This was to be one of the many things about Mara Angelo she had not known, her accent was fake…

"When Sev first came to Hogwarts he was immensely unhappy, his parents were constantly fighting, he was bullied, he generally hated it here. There were many times when I would here sobbing in the middle of the night and I'd walk down to the common room to find him crying the corner, what they did to him was unforgivable, but no-one was prepared to stop them, not the teachers or prefects, not anyone.

This changed when a boy called Kayden Summers arrived late in the summer term.

Kayden was amazing; he was one of the few people who ever stuck up for Severus, because he knew what it felt like to be in that position. Of course his boldness cost him as he became the Marauders next target." Mara sighed.

"Shortly after he arrived he and Sev became inseparable, they worked together and fought together. James Potter hated Kayden. He hated him because he wasn't afraid. To him the only good Slytherin was one who was submissive and pathetic. So he decided to get rid of him."

Emily sat up with a jolt, "What? You mean Potter got him thrown out of Hogwarts?"

Mara's lips curled in a snarl, "No, he did far worse than that." Her expression showed nothing but hate and revulsion; her hatred glowed in every inch of her face.

Except her eyes. Her eyes were watering and pitifully unhappy, a single tear rolled down her cheek like rain on a windowpane, she dashed it away and tried to compose herself.

"No," she said again, her eyes now filled with hardened resolve, "James Potter killed Kayden Summers."


	8. Kayden Continued

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Emily sat there dumbstruck, she could barely breath, it was like all the air had simply been sucked out of her lungs. James Potter? A murderer? Surely not…

She knew he was a vicious, tormenting bastard but not a killer…

"I know what your thinking," said Mara with her newly discovered accent, "How could the _brilliant_ James Potter do _anything_ as bad as that?" her tone was mocking and her glare never faltered.

"That's not what I was thinking…" Emily's reply was barely a whisper.

"Oh yeah?" Mara's eyebrows rose so high they seemed to disappear into her greasy hairline, "What were you thinking then?"

Emily swallowed hard, then stood up with a jolt and ran out of the open door and into the snow-blanketed street, barely hearing the shouts of "Newbie! Come back!" as she sprinted down the road.

There was a crash as Mara burst out of the door behind her and snarled as she slid on the icy pavement outside the pub, "Newbie!" she shouted again as she fell to the ground in a heap, "EMILY! GET THE FUCK BACK HERE!"

Only then did Emily stop and turn back to look at the mass of black, snow covered robes and wild, badly dyed hair that was Mara.

"You're lying." She said quietly, "you have to be lying, James Potter is a lot of things but he isn't a murderer." she thought back to the times she had seen Lily and James holding hands out by the lake, she would never admit it but she had liked Lily for some time when she first met her, what would something like this do to her if she knew?

"Emily," Mara's voice was little more than a choked sob, "I wish I was lying," tears were now streaming down her face, smearing her black make-up, making her look like a twisted parody of a circus clown "I loved Kayden, would I really lie about something like this?" she buried her face in her hands and sat there in the snow sobbing.

Emily had no idea what to say, she didn't even know who Kayden was, all she knew was she had to get the whole story. And that would mean talking to Severus.

But from the way he had reacted to the mere mention of Kayden's name at breakfast, who knew what would happen when she tried to talk about him?

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By some sheer stroke of luck she made it back to the castle with Mara in tow.

She had done her best to help Mara to stop crying and managed to convince her to come back to the castle instead of sitting in the melting snow all day and all night.

They walked with a slow pace, as Mara was preoccupied with trying to wipe away all of the black marks under her eyes that were what remained of her make-up.

By the time they made it back to the castle all the make-up had disappeared and Emily was left standing next to a marginally normal looking Mara.

Emily sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Could you tell Sev I wanna talk to him please?" they were sanding out side the entrance to the dungeons, Mara nodded and swung open the heavy iron door.

"I'll tell him, but I cant guarantee he'll come out," she turned and swept down the corridor, the door slamming behind her.

Emily had waited for more than an hour when she finally gave up and went to lunch. The food was delicious but she ate very little, neither Mara or Severus came to eat, and in the meantime she realised that she was receiving some very evil looks from the Slytherin she had shouted at at breakfast.

She walked miserably back to the Ravenclaw common room and sat for the rest of the day on her own in front of the fireplace flicking through the potions book Severus had given her. At one point she must have fallen asleep out of exhaustion as the next thing she knew she was being shaken awake rather roughly by someone that smelled of Lavender incense.

"Em, Em wake up!" she opened her eyes blearily and was surprised to see it was Lunesia who was shaking her.

"Lunesia…what are you doing here? You're meant to come back tomorrow afternoon," she rubbed her eyes and was equally surprised to see bright winter sunlight streaming in through the windows.

"Emily, it _is_ tomorrow afternoon, its Boxing Day, I told you I'd be back today," she was wearing an amused expression, her eyebrows raised and a smirk twitching in the corners of her mouth.

"You mean I slept for a whole twenty four hours!" she couldn't believe she had slept so long, she must have been absolutely exhausted the day before.

Lunesia shrugged, "I dunno Em, anyways," she walked over to the chair opposite hers and bent down to rummage through a patchwork bag she had dropped on it when she arrived. She pulled out a small gift wrapped in silver paper. "Here's your present."

Emily rubbed her eyes again and took the present from Lunesia, she found where the edge of the paper had been neatly stuck together and pulled the shiny wrapping away to find a blue velvet box with Elizabeth Duke written in gold on the lid. She opened it to see a silver necklace with a sapphire star hanging from the chain. ((note: omg, I have this necklace!))

"Wow Lunesia, its beautiful!" she pulled it carefully out of the box and undid the clasp. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and attempted to do it up again.

Lunesia giggled, "I'll help," she said and walked behind Emily's chair and did up the clasp on the chain.

"Thank you," Emily said as she examined it in the mirror that hung above the fireplace.

"No problem," Lunesia replied, grinning, "So what have you got for me eh?"

Emily ran up to the dorm to fetch the earrings she had bought for Lunesia, while Lunesia sat down in the chair opposite hers and absently twirled a strand of her blonde hair round her finger.

Emily bounded back down the stairs and handed Lunesia the box with the earrings in, Lunesia opened it and her grinned widened at the sight. "Aw, thanks Em, their great!" she proceeded to take out the ones she was already wearing (which to Emily seemed to resemble large golden bells with green and red ribbon tied to them) and put them on instead.

"So, what did you do while I was gone eh? Me and my parents and Luca went skiing, it wasn't that much fun, I kept falling over," she laughed, not realising how Emily was now looking rather pale and dejected.

"Lunesia, do you know anything about a boy called Kayden Summers?" she had only just thought about the events of the day before, and now she remembered that she still had to talk to Severus about what Mara had told her…

Lunesia's head snapped up at the mention of the name, "Why do you want to know about Kayden? Who told you about him?"

"Mara Angelo," she said guiltily, "She said…She said James Potter killed him…"

"Mara Angelo exaggerates things," Lunesia snapped, Emily was surprised at Lunesia's suddenly cold tone, "That girl says a lot of things she knows nothing about,"

"She said she loved him, I hardly think she was exaggerating…" Emily gulped and prepared to ask the 'Million Dollar Question', "Did Potter kill Kayden?"

"I don't think so," replied Lunesia, she was staring into the fire, her hands clasped together in her lap.

Emily breathed a much-needed sigh of relief, "Thank god! So Kayden isn't dead?"

"Oh no," Lunesia closed her eyes and shook her head, "Kayden is very much dead, but Potter," she sighed also, "I don't think he really intended to _kill_ Kayden, but still," her eyes turned cold, "It's hard to work out the motives of a person who finds tormenting people and calling them Snivellus and Loony Lovegood amusing…"

Emily once again had the feeling of all the breath being sucked out of her lungs with a vacuum cleaner, "So it's true…oh my god…" she pulled her feet up onto the chair and rested her chin on her knees, this was bad, this was terrible, more terrible than she could have thought. Severus and Lunesia were being bullied by a person who was capable of _murder_, what would happen when he finally decided he wanted to get rid of Severus? And what the hell would he do to him?…

Lunesia looked up from staring into the fire to see tears were falling down Emily's face in streams, she stood up and put her hand on Emily's shoulder, "Come with me," she said quietly, "There's something I want to show you."

She led her up to the dorm and began to rummage through her trunk, tossing various items of clothing aside until she pulled out a brown leather bound book with 'Photographs' on the front in silver lettering.

She began flipping through the pages with feverish speed until she came across the page she wanted. She muttered the counter-spell for the sticking charm she used to keep the pictures in place and picked out a photo and handed it to Emily.

"That's Kayden," she said, and she began to flick through the pages again.

The photograph had been taken in the courtyard outside the castle, a tall boy with long red hair sat at a bench reading. As Emily studied the picture the figure moved and looked up at her, a small smile spreading across his face.

He had watery blue eyes and a pale complexion, he also had a strange mark under his left eye in the shape of a starburst, Emily assumed it was some sort of birthmark. He wore baggy blue jeans with various chains hanging off of them and a black t-shirt with the slogan Anarchy across the front.

The figure stared at her a little longer then flicked a small piece of hair out of his eyes and went back to his reading.

Emily handed the photo back to Lunesia who stuck it back in its place in the book; she sat down on her now closed trunk and motioned for Emily to look at the others in the book.

"This was taken after I graduated first year," she said, absently pointing to a picture of a hyperactive looking blonde girl with bright, hippy style cloths and wide, starry eyes.

Emily giggled despite the depressed feeling she still had.

Lunesia smiled, "Yeah, I know. This one was hard to get, Mara, Severus and Kayden outside potions, second year,"

The figure of Mara was turned slightly to the right as if she had been walking away as the picture was taken; she was glaring out at them both with narrowed slits for eyes.

Severus looked extremely irritated, either it was because he didn't like being photographed, or he was uncomfortable with the fact that Kayden seemed to be holding him still so that he would be in the shot. Kayden was grinning widely.

She put out her hand to touch the picture and suddenly a white haze seemed to invade her vision and it felt like her hand was glued to the page, there was a flash of blue light and she was standing outside the potions classroom blinking wildly.

Her vision cleared and she almost had a heart attack when she realised she was standing just a few meters away from Lunesia who was waving a camera around excitedly.

"Come on guys! Just one picture!"

Severus was trying desperately to get away and out of Kayden's grasp, "Kayden! Get the hell off of me!"

"All she wants is one picture Sev, come on don't be a spoil sport!" Kayden had a smooth sounding voice with a slight Irish accent, he was laughing and holding Severus tightly around the waist.

Mara was edging away from the group as Lunesia spotted her and bounded over to her, "Hey Mara! How about you?"

"Piss off Lovegood, and get that frikkin camera outta mah face if ya know what's good for ya," Mara snarled.

Still Lunesia was unperturbed; she swung round on the three of them, raised the camera and snapped four shots, one after the other.

"Thanks!" and she skipped off in the direction of the entrance hall, followed by a long flow of cursing from Mara who seemed to have been temporarily blinded by the camera flash.

Severus tried to push Kayden away from him, "Fine! She's taken the goddamn picture, now lemme go!"

Kayden grinned slyly, "But I don't wanna!" and he tightened his grip.

"KAYDEN!"

With that final exclamation Emily was yanked back into the dorm with another blue flash. Lunesia was still rambling on about the other pictures she was pointing to, as if nothing had happened.

Emily blinked several times and tried to clear her head of the white mist that was still blocking her vision. Had she just been transported _inside_ the photograph? Had she been imagining all of it? What_ had_ just happened?

Lunesia turned to see he with a worried expression on her face, "Hey, what's up?" she asked, concerned.

"N-nothing," she replied, "I was just…just thinking,"


	9. A Plan Forms

No updates this time, sorry this chapter took so long to get to you guys but Christmas and New Year was pretty hectic and I had hardly anytime to get down and do some serious writing. I swear I still have a hangover from Laurie and Maxwell's engagement party on Feb 14….

And before you start shouting at me, I know this is a short chapter but I'm working on the next one it should be up in a few days so don't kill me or anything…

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Emily slept fitfully that night, images of James Potter, a hideous grin on his face, raising his wand over the helpless form of Kayden Summers flashed constantly in her mind. Followed by replays of Kayden grinning widely and refusing to let go of Severus until he had his picture taken.

How could anyone want to destroy a friendship that strong? How could Potter have hated Severus so badly that he would resort to murdering his best friend?

She spent the next day at breakfast absently pushing pieces of food around her plate, eating little and staring miserably at the gang of Slytherins at the other end of the table. Severus and Mara had decided come down for breakfast that morning, but had passed her and Lunesia without batting an eyelid. Had Mara told Severus that she knew about Kayden? Why was he still ignoring her?

The next few weeks were a blur to her. A dreary, monotonous blur. She disappeared into her coursework and essays, she was well aware that she was falling back into her the old pattern she had had at Beaxbatons, but it no longer seemed to matter.

The spring term began and she found herself formulating a plan in her mind. She had to find a way to get Severus to talk to her again. She knew that he must be feeling terrible, having all the pain wrenched back from the past by someone as pathetic as Avery…it must be killing him.

She had to find out more about Severus and Kayden, much, much more.

She needed the date of Kayden's birth and death, she needed to find out if he had any relatives, any other friends apart Severus and Mara. She needed to know how and where he died, who else saw it, and if necessary, who helped James Potter do it.

She needed Mara and Lunesia.

On the first Hogsmead weekend she made various excuses to Lunesia about why she wanted to go alone, Lunesia looked puzzled and a little hurt but agreed to let her go off on her own then meet up with her in the Three Broomsticks at midday.

She strode purposefully on her way towards the shop she had bought Lunesia's earrings from. When she arrived she shut the door behind her and removed her coat, it was freezing outside but the heat coming off of the thousands of lighted candles that were floating around the shop was sweltering.

She picked her way to the back of the shop, pulling various things off of the shelves then putting them back, still not finding what she was looking for.

But at long last she did. It was a small ornate, stone bowl with runes carved all around the edge. It was a pensieve.

It cost a lot, she dreaded to think how much the larger sized ones would cost, but she had walked past a bank on the way there and the rest of her savings would probably just about cover it. It was a lot to pay for such a small thing, but it would serve its purpose fine she thought.

She made her way to the Three Broomsticks and pushed the door open to reveal a mass of people already there, it seemed business was booming…

She managed to fight her way through the crowd –literally actually, as she had to kick a few people to get them to move out of the way- and make it to a small table in the corner where Lunesia was hunched in her scarf and hat looking very claustrophobic at the amount of people milling around her, Emily couldn't blame her really.

Emily sat down and smiled weakly at her, Lunesia returned the smile, glad that she was no longer alone in the bustling tavern.

"So, are you gonna tell me what this is all about hmm?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Emily frowned, her eyebrows knitted together, she hated having to keep things from her best friend, but she couldn't explain without Mara being there, she had to be sure they would both agree to what she was proposing…

"I'm sorry Lunesia, I can't tell you yet, not here at any rate." She pulled out her purse and counted the few copper coins she had left, "I could get you a drink if you want…I think I have enough…"

"No. Its okay, lets just get out of here, its much too noisy" they both stood up and began to barge their way through the crowd again, not caring how many people shouted at them and only concentrating on getting out in one piece. They burst out of the door and into the cold; pulling their cloaks tightly around them they made their way up to the castle as quickly as they could, despite the cruel wind that was now blowing right in their faces.

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At dinner that evening she ignored all food that was put in front of her, she was focused on Mara Angelo, the other girl was eating with such haste it would be surprising if she actually tasted anything at all. She was wolfing down anything that she could reach, it was making Emily physically sick at Mara's obvious lack of table manors.

When she was almost done Emily stood up, gathered up as much courage as she could muster and walked across the hall to the Slytherin table and stood behind Mara, she tapped her on the shoulder lightly, "Mara?"

Mara swivelled around in her place, ketchup stuck in the corners of her mouth, she wiped it away with her sleeve and sneered "What?" the other Slytherins were looking at her as if she had some sort of disease, she tried to ignore them but she almost lost her nerve and bolted when she realised that Severus was one of them.

"Can I talk to you please?" she tried to put on an indifferent face, and keep her eyes away from Severus's scowling face, "Privately."

Mara's eyes narrowed some; her expression seemed to say to her, _'What are you playing at newbie?'_

"Sure." She drawled finally, she pushed her plate away and spun around, jumping off of the bench and following Emily as she walked out of the Great Hall and into a small alcove off the side of the Entrance Hall.

"I want you to meet me in the Astronomy Tower to night," Emily hissed, a determined expression on her face, her voice matched the resolve that was clear in her eyes.

Her almost command seemed to surprise Mara, as she seemed to forget about her fake accent and stood there gaping slightly, "You what?"

"Meet. Me. In. The. Astronomy Tower. Tonight." She said slowly, as if addressing a slow and stubborn child.

"Why?"

"Just be there!" she growled, it was the first time she had really lost her temper in the past year or so, she was trying to help Severus and all Mara could do was question her and be such a bloody imbecile!

She left Mara there gaping like a fish and thoroughly shocked at her sudden change of tone.

That night she practically dragged Lunesia up to tower with her on the pretence that she had something to show her. Lunesia moaned and whined all the way.

"I don't understand why you couldn't have just brought it down to show me in the common room Em, I have homework to do you know-"

"Homework can wait Lune." And she pushed open the door to reveal Mara already seated at a table by the fireplace, she sat up as they entered and her face set in a snarl when she saw Lunesia.

"What the bloody 'ell is she doin' 'ere?" she demanded.

"Cut the accent Angelo, we all know its fake," snapped Lunesia.

"Stop it!" Emily stood between the two of them, frowning and glaring at them both, "I brought both of you here because I need your help…" he voice cracked at the end of the sentence, she hated the thought of Severus hating her, he was a good friend and she hated the Marauders for making him so cold and unemotional towards her.

"Em…" Lunesia reached out to put her hand on her shoulder; Mara was standing behind her chair now looking very uncomfortable.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she brushed Lunesia's hand away and pulled the photograph out from the inside of her robes. She held it out to Mara, "Do you remember this?"

Mara snatched it out of her hand and glared at it, but her face softened as soon as she saw the figure of Severus desperately trying to get out of Kayden's embrace, "Yeah…I remember that." She looked up and the tiniest hint of a smile twitched in the corner of her lips, "You were a bloody lunatic back then Lovegood," she said to Lunesia.

"You still are a bloody lunatic," replied Lunesia, but her smile was warm and forgiving, they both seemed caught in the memory of a time when things had been a lot happier for them.

Emily dug her hand into her pocket again and pulled out the tiny pensieve, she held it out the palm of her hand and looked imploringly at them both, "I need to know." She said simply.

"Emily…" Lunesia started again, "I know you want to help but all this happened a long time ago-"

"Yes but Severus is still sore about it I can tell!"

"But that's understandable, they were best friends, I'm sure Mara is still sad about it sometimes…"

"Sad about it?" she threw the picture down on the table and strode over to the fireplace, she put her hand on the mantelpiece and stared into the flames, "You act like you never even knew Kayden, Lovegood. Sad doesn't even begin to describe the way you feel when you wake up in the night crying because you know that anything you do in the time before you die will be worthless if the one person you love is gone and never coming back to you," there was a choke and her shoulders hunched inwards, if she hadn't only been able to see Mara's back Emily could have sworn she was crying, "and that you never even got a chance to tell them how you felt…or even say goodbye…" she collapsed on the hard wooden floor in front of the fire, her eyes full to the brim with tears, Emily could tell she must have held all this grief and anguish inside for years.

She hated how, in the back of her mind a little voice was whispering, _"This is all your fault"_

"I need to know," she said again, "It's the only way I'll know how to help Severus."

Mara stood up, her make-up was smeared but she wiped it away with the back of her hand, her face now set in a mask of determination, "Sure, wotcha wanna know?"

"I want to know Kayden," Mara nodded and placed her wand to her temple, the silvery thought clung to her dark hair as she slowly placed it into the pensieve. The otherworldly glow enveloped them all and Emily was once again taken for ride to the past.


End file.
